Wednesday, March 24, 2010

THE 2002 NATURIST CARNIVAL IN HUNGARY

The first naturist carnival (farsangi in Hungarian) was held in the luxury rooms of the Hotel Gellért –built in 1912-18- in 1987. The guests had dinner in the cozy restaurant; afterwards they danced and later went down to the basement swimming-pool, where they had a swim without clothes. Around 400 people took part in it, quite an impressive number.

The next similar carnival events were held in the Free Time Leisure Centre on 6 Almássy Square, in 1989 and 1990, under the Hungarian Naturists’ Association (MNE) supervision. Members and guests could enter the swimming-pool without clothes.

The first unclothed carnival took place only in the swimming-pool.

The Napóra Club revived the yearly carnival event in the swimming-pool of the Almássy Square from 1996 to 1999 and since 2000 at Eötvös Loránd All Sciences University (ELTE) swimming pool in the 14th district.

The tenth carnival meeting was held on February 17, 2002. 113 members and guests of the Napóra Club showed up at the ELTE sports ground, including children and volleyball players. The Napórites had come from other towns, to name some: Csévharaszt and Csömör (on the outskirts of Budapest), Győr (123km), Kecskemét (85km), Pécs (198km), Szeged (171km), Szolnok (97km) and Veszprém (110km).

The event started at 5pm and completed at 8pm. 6 contests were held: diving, rowing on swimming boards won by Péter Osváth, beauty contest for men’s legs by Csaba Portik and László Tanács; women’s arms by Zsuzsa Beliczay, Marcsi Seengerné, Tamásné Paróczai and Dr Lászlóné Gentner; inflating balloons by Katalin Müllner, and hula-hoop by Attila Schuszter and Andrea Pluhár.

Attila Schuszter and Tamás Zelenyánszky won the table tennis competition. Another popular competition, the living statues, won by the Müllner, Szabó and Ribényi families, while András Ribényi and Enikő Schuszter impressed the jury and won the contest in fancy small dress.

A lot of members contributed to the free buffet hundreds of sandwiches, cakes and salads as well as refreshing drinks.

It has been customary for Hungarian companies dealing with naturism to sponsor the club’s events. Their special offers applied to families or couples, and winners were declared in the club’s lottery.

- Wintermedia Ltd, Budapest: Free admission for 10 times for two persons to their sauna at the Hotel Olympia, at the end of the long corridor decorated with large framed pictures of Hungarian gold medallists in the Olympic Games.

The club thanks the following members for having run the carnival event smoothly: Jolán Jagovits, László Kelenc, Klára Kendra, Csaba Portik, András Ribényi, Attila Schuszter, Győző Seenger and Sándor Túri.